Philly Fling

Last weekend I absconded to Philadelphia, PA if for no other reason than to use the word abscond. It was a great solo weekend and a much needed get away from the city. I intentionally had no itinerary. It was basically a day and half of wandering and exploring and talking to locals. A brief and highly amateur photo gallery is below.

I went by Bolt Bus which took just over 2 hours and stayed at the Lowes Philadelphia Hotel in Center City. By my definition it was a swanky place. My definition of swanky includes things like bath robes, doormen and no continental breakfast. It’s two blocks from City Hall.

City Hall is amazing. The architecture on all 4 sides is so detailed you could spend an hour just walking around it.

Actually, the shape and personality of nearly every building is different.

I did some historic and touristy type stuff while I was there. “Did” in this sense means “walked by and took pictures without interacting much”. Not that I don’t care of course, but eh, it was a laid back trip. So instead of learning things I preferred to assume. Here we have an old building with a long line of people waiting for a tour which means it’s important and historical.

The Liberty Bell. The Bell of Liberty. They were so excited about liberty they rang it so hard it cracked.

Surprisingly, I know more about the Rocky films than I do the Liberty Bell. I sat on the museum steps for about half an hour watching kids run up shouting “Yo Adrian!!”. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Not surprisingly, I found a bridge with pedestrian access. Here we see The Benjamin Franklin Bridge and my right index finger. It connects Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The state of Pennsylvania named the bridge after Ben Franklin because “Bridge to Nowhere” was already taken. Zing!

Philly is known for their cheesesteaks and so of course I had to partake. Instead of hitting up one of the big tourist spots with long lines I found a place that was pretty highly rated in Reading Terminal Market. Free travel tip: This should not be your last stop before boarding a return Bolt Bus back to NYC.

And finally, here we see our intrepid traveler having his picture taken in high wind by an old lady who had probably never touched an iphone before.